Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain whether or not our NWT boreal forest is still acting as a carbon sink. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, historically, the Northwest Territories boreal forest has acted as a strong carbon sink, absorbing more carbon dioxide than it releases. Over recent research, combined with the effects of drought, wildfire, and permafrost thaw, it's weakening things and, you know, research was presented recently at the landscape carbon workshop in February of 2025 and, you know, as things move forward the cumulative effects of these recent fire seasons, particularly 2023 as the most severe season in our history, have shifted some areas of the boreal landscape from carbon sink to net carbon source. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that is a tipping point for us. Does the Minister know how much more greenhouse gases we are emitting annually as compared to prior to our 2023 wildfire season and continued permafrost melt? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's very challenging to quantify and compare carbon landscape emissions over time in the NWT and in Canada and worldwide for that matter. Canada and Canadian jurisdictions use methods developed by the United Nations to report on their emissions, and this message does not account for natural variations, carbon levels associated with, for example, wildfires or permafrost thaw. It really only captures the human-made emissions component of that data. And, you know, we also know that there are knowledge gaps in these emissions, and it is currently difficult to tell the difference between natural emission cycles and emissions due to climate change. We're advancing work to better understand and potentially manage the landscape carbon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. So in short, two questions, two nos.
Will the Minister direct his staff to allocate additional resources for climate monitoring and especially more community-based monitoring while also incorporating traditional knowledge when it's appropriate? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, there are over a hundred climate stations operated by the GNWT and the federal government, so environment and climate change across the NWT. The GNWT has climate stations in every NWT community. And building from the landscape carbon workshop, the GNWT is coordinating efforts with partners, including Indigenous governments and researchers to develop landscape carbon roadmap for the Northwest Territories, and this roadmap will identify the next steps in research, monitoring, including western science, traditional knowledge, and local knowledge and the potential management related to this landscape carbon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
